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Priscian, Praise for the Emperor Anastasius 180-192

   https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/450

Context

Priscian from Mauretanian Caesarea grew up in the Vandalic Kingdom and spent his career as a leading Lating grammarian at Constantinople in the early 6th century. He wrote his widely influential description of Latin grammar and technical treatises on metrology, rhetoric, and pedagogy, as well as a panegyric to Anastasius I in 312 hexameters. In this passage, Priscian celebrates how Anastasius rehabilitated harborworks to the benefit of seaborn traffic, though he does not specify Caesarea. Here the poet echoes the praises of Procopius of Gaza written roughly one decade earlier, which specified Caesarea (Panegyric to the Emperor Anastasius 19); so also 6th-century historians recorded the emperor’s widespread investment in building projects (John Malalas, Chronicle 16.21; John the Lydian, The Rulers of the Roman State 3.47.2).

Text

Auspiciis gaude, princeps felicibus aulae, (190)cui Deus omniparens renovandum credidit orbemiustitiamque iubet descendere rursus ab axeet faciles precibus populorum praebuit aures,quorum prostratas recreasti funditus urbesportibus et muris, undarum et tractibus altis. (185)Nunc tuto nautae repetunt vera ostia velis,qui dubio quondam peiora pericula pontoiam patrias oras tolerabant nave tenentes,naufragium ratibus fessis statione minantedisiectis claustris quibus aequor frangitur altum; (190)sed nunc vota Deo servati pectore totopro pietate tua, qua respicis omnia, fundunt.1

Textual Note

Ed. Bekker and Niebuhr 1829 with ref. to Chavout 1986

Translation

(190) Rejoice, prince, in the happy auspices of your reign! God in his infinite foresight has entrusted to you the renewal of the world, he orders justice again to come down from heaven, and he gladly hears the prayers of the people, whose cities once razed to their foundations you have restored with (185) harbors and walls and aqueducts. Sailors now safely return to proper ports on their boats, sailors who once faced greater dangers as they navigated toward their home shores than they did out on the uncertain sea, and the anchorage threatened their exhausted vessels with shipwreck (190) because the enclosures which break the water had been scattered. Now that they have been saved, they wholeheartedly pour out prayers to God on behalf of the dutiful devotion with which you watch over everything!2

Translation Note

Trans. J. L. Rife with ref. to Chavout 1986

Works Cited

  • 1 Priscian, Dexippi, Eunapii, Petri Patricii, Prisci, Malchi, Menandri historiarum quae supersunt; accedunt eclogae Photii ... Prisciani panegyricus, ed. August Immanuel Bekker and Barthold Georg Niebuhr, Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae (Bonn: Weber, 1829), line: 180-192.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 2 Procopius of Gaza and Priscian of Caesarea, Procope de Gaza, Priscien de Césarée: Panégyriques de l’empereur Anastase Ier, ed. Alain Chavout, Antiquitas, 1.35 (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, 1986), p: 63-64, 76-77.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
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How to Cite This Entry

Joseph L. Rife, “Priscian, Praise for the Emperor Anastasius 180-192,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/450.

Bibliography:

Joseph L. Rife, “Priscian, Praise for the Emperor Anastasius 180-192.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/450.

About this Entry

Entry Title: Priscian, Praise for the Emperor Anastasius 180-192

Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:

  • Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
  • Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
  • David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Priscian, Praise for the Emperor Anastasius 180-192”
  • Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Priscian, Praise for the Emperor Anastasius 180-192”

Additional Credit:

  • TEI encoding by Joseph L. Rife
  • URNs and other metadata added by Joseph L. Rife
  • Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
  • Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife
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